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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (July 16, 1987)
New plant makes Lane County sewage treatment easier By Alicia (»ano IK iH* fc*»*c*fal Domestic and industrial sewage processing in Lana County is a brighter prospect now as the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment facility comes ever closer to completion. In 1976, with Inith Eugene and Springfield's sewage plants at capacity, both cities needed new facilities In order to get federal grants needed for the projects, the Department of En vironmental Quality recom mended one facility be built to service both areas.. As a result, the Metropolitan ■ Wastewater Management Com mission was formed Its mission was "to design, construct, operate and maintain the regional sewage facilities" to t>e built In 1978. $29.5 million in bonds were sold to cover the region's share of the cost and millions in federal grants were pledged, according to commission documents. By 19H4 the plant was opera tional and dedicated Currently. $105 million has been spent, and the facility operates at around $t> million per year, ac cording to Regional Wastewater Manager Bill Pye "It’s a tremendous asset for Photo* b* Ibrrtl lUwttt At the end of the sewage Irealmenl process al the Wastewater Treatment Facility, water is ready for release into the Willamette River Iabove). Regional Wastewater Manager Hill Fve stands in a room whertf solids are removed from sludge (upper right). both our communities, one which will save the area money ami remain useful far into the future," said l.ane County Budget Committee member. Robert Scherer of Springfield As household sewage comes to the plant it goes through five stages and produces several by products. Rye said. The whole system is based on the low-tech concept of gravity, he said The plant is situated so that each phase is a little farther down hill than the previous one, he added. Initially, all sewage goes to a pre-treatment area where everything is ground up and grit is removed. Crit is sand or gravel that has gotten into the sewage, primarily from in dustrial activity. Rye said The grit is later taken to a landfill. The second stage is to the primary clarifiers where sewage that floats or sinks is separated from the rest of the liquid. The solids that are separated off at this point go directly to "digesters" which is where raw sewage is turned into sludge Sludge is stabilized, all organic material is removed and therefore has no odor. "There is nothing organic left to rot." Rye said. Sludge is stored in a pond where it solidifies further and settles loiter it will lie removed and as much water as possible will be removed from it to aid in transportation. Sixty-five i>er cent of sewage treatment occurs at the primary clarifying stage, according to Rye. Next, the remaining liquid sewage goes to aeration tanks where it is exposed to Ivacteria that attaches itself to any organic material and creates more solids Oxygen is pumped into the tanks which keeps the bacteria healthy and the odor down. At the next stage, secondary clarification, the newly created solids are removed. Some of the solids are reintroduced to the ~i i* real minkers- come cnecu out our Philosophy section. One of the greats ihe UnivcfMiy Bookstore. In (he Book Dcpi rtcr.it ion tanks as bacteria for new sewage coming in. and the rest is sent to the digesters to In; turned into sludge. The final process is disinfec tion of the remaining water — all organic material is removed in the previous stage —- with chlorine to kill the bacteria and then with sulfur dioxide to rid the water of the chlorine. At this point the water is purified, aerated and returned to the river. The byproducts of sewage processing are sludge and methane gas. Sludge is used by local farmers as a "soil amend ment,” Pye said. Unlike fer tilizer it improves the "waterholding capabilities” of the soil which proves highly beneficial to farmers. Methane gas is produced in the digesters as the remaining bacteria within the sludge con sumes the organic material. A floating ceiling within the digesters allows the methane gas to seep out and be contain ed. Six percent of the plants power needs come from this gas. Pye hopes to increase this by another 6 percent soon. Odors are kept down at the facility by keeping as much ox ygen in the sewage as possible. In so doing, the bacteria lives on the oxygen, which does not result in odorous fumes, rather than on nitrogen or sulfur, which do. Throughout the pro cess. oxygen is continually pumped into the sewage except at the digester stage where everything is sealed off and gases are desired The final construction for the plant will be a permanent sludge handling facility, which Pye said may cut the cost of operating the system by $100,001). Currently sludge is removed from the storage pond year-round, which results in high labor exists in the winter when it cannot lie immediately transported to fields With the new system of sludge ponds, more can be stored during the winter and removed later in bet ter weather. Pye is also pleased with a future plan for drying and stor ing sludge so that farmers can come to the facility and easily pick up truck loads to use on their land. Personals PROBLEMS? Cnplp Cant#' U ol 0 lAtapnona Kollina It hour* r day* Strictly contmaniial (Ml m MRS_3T44ltn EUOENE PREQNANCY HOTLINE pro vidat I'M conlldanliAl piagnancy tailing. luppoft And inlormation Call .M3 0400 iM ( lllhEugartA._Mn PLANNED PARENTHOOD FOR PAP inm Birth control matnod* And countaling Da* 4 #«# appl CaH 344K1I_M HONEYPOT n • Iiitia lor Aomalhing •ami I LOVE. YOUR POOH REAR t it ROMEO?_ Ctlaclr ow EnlAf1Alnni*nl Sactron PICK UP THE PHONEI II you Kama a Viaa or MaaIaicatU you cap phona in your CtAAAIIwd Ad* And itm II tHilAd lo your Account Jutl glya UA a CAM By I pm lha day Baton you want I ha Ad to bA pubnihad And natch A SMALL INVESTMENT SAINO RIO RETURNSI EMERALD CLASSIFIEDS 686-4343 Typing PROFESSION*'. TYPIST I WORD PRO CESSOR. 17 yeai* eaper lance Editing Gradual* tchool approved Near cam pot Robin 144 07SB MO* tin PROFESSION At WORO PROCESSING EditmprOiek Storage Colleen 1*4 7040 1 9 pm Neal day aenrtce 7114 tin WOROSTYLES S TYPESCRIPTS Word procaaamg typing, and computet •peciallaO Speciabrtng In diaaerta tionanheee* Grad school apptoved CINOY 4*4 MM BRANOY 4*4*044 SHAW NEE Ml 70*4 tin TYPING UNLIMITED Bl|ou Theatre Building 497 E I3lh No 101 Barbara Land 4SS0890 IBM Compatible lln mono pnoct ssinottypiwo Dtftk tdU«na,Co/'v«»»ioo9 AppJ# *BM CP'M Photocopy • Itndtnfl Ionrtc* m E 1«th So fUocfcs from C«mpu» IHt Wo*d Proc#»»«ng SpooUtti Typing DIAL A TYPIST 663-7777 Papara di a aerial ton trwaea nium#i |||0 Sell SOW# HVOfd PfOC9I|1(M 96S8tfn JO. THE TYPING PRO 12 YEARS EXPERIENCE Quality Accurate DepernlaPie ••3 toil (V am I pm) _ A13 WORD PROCESSING THE FLOPPY DISC Term papara. correapondence. tftaaia/ diaaartationa documanta Pooka raiumai Will Edit Call Jaan 7464732 7 16 RUTH WESTLUND TYPING SERVICES Term papara. Tranacription letter* - 34SS6M 9606 tin TYPING Alao word procaaatrvg t<d«lmg Fraa pick up/dei*very Ronda 936 1092 66 T A C Typtnp/Wordproceeamg Graduate School Approved 667 9326 (CyndO .V'OUAUTY TYPING [ f WORD li PAOCtSSING Cat'oly'tl's cSpecialties Ru»n Aa|ieH frSSg 3447231 Books 100.000 BOOKS in stock All Selling 4a90% oM list prices •TeKtbook§»Cltff Nolit'Nawmti* USED BOOKS BOUGHT AND SOLD SMITH FAMILY BOOKSTORE 7SS East 1Jib _ 4073 tin NEWT NEW I NEW! UMd Book* 9 Magazines Book* from GG to XX from A to Z» Hardback A Paperback Comte* too Vy Gov*r Price A Lmi TRAOE BUY SELL Special Deell Bring books in by B16 A receive 2S% e*lra credit I Aaron K t Open Mtnd 132 E 13tn 10 30-7 30 683 1801 Mon Sal _ _ 7 16 TAKING SPANISH? all books needed for first and second year from me S20 344 If74 evenings 723 Cars a Cycles Tt HONDA U0 Motorcycle Cell Nell 683 831 7 evening* and weekend! 7 28 it HONDA SSOCB 4 , Mol Good condition Windscreen B.O 484 9632_7-Jt •0 DAT SUN 200SX, 2 door S sp eunioot pecked with options E.cetient cond 83000 o» best 687 t«67 7 18 CAN YOU BUY JEEPS, cere. 4X4S set; ed in drug raids lor under *I00"7 Cell lor tacts today 802 837 3401 E>t t008 7 t8 Lost a Found FOUND MAN S WATCH naar iStft & Agata on July 7th Call E*t 4601 and »dant tty __7 16 FOUND WOMENS 10 SPEED 16th 6 Oliva araa Call 344 7644 to idan ««ty 7 21 Sound Systems JIM’S ELECTRONICS STEREO REPAIR 1457 W 6th 343 7663 Monday thru Friday 9am 6pm Saturday 9am 430 pm Travel ROUND TRIP TICKET Portland Amatardai laavat July 23 6550 or bat! offar MUST SELL Lhm nnugt loi 481 0776 _____ 7_21 SINGAPORE MM. 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